Local treasures star on 'Antiques Roadshow' starting tonight

Antiques Roadshow guest Priscila, right, smiles after learning that her 1773 copy of the &#8220;Journey of a Voyage to the South Seas&#8221; is worth between $6,000 and $9,000 on camera at the &#8220;Antiques Roadshow&#8221; taping in Anaheim last year. HANNAH POTES, STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

At a glance

• "Antiques Roadshow" was introduced in 1997, based on a British series of the same name. Produced by Boston PBS station WGBH.

• Monday night's episode will be the 300th, excluding specials.

• Highest appraisal: A collection of Chinese teacups made from rhinoceros horns, from a 2011 episode, valued between $1 million and $1.5 million.

'Antiques Roadshow'

What: Three episodes made from last June's visit to Anaheim.

When: 8 p.m. Monday night, April 28 and May 5. A behind the scenes special about the tour's stop in Anaheim airs at 7:30 Monday night.

Channel: KOCE

The treasures file out of the Anaheim Convention Center as I head in: a samurai sword on a stand, an ornate octagonal table, a lifesize bronze greyhound. Judging by their glum expressions, none of the owners is a newly minted millionaire. This increases the odds, I reason, that the two pieces of art tucked under my arm will prove to be the stars of today’s event.

I step inside, where I am greeted by a beaming volunteer.

“Welcome to the Roadshow. Do you have any firearms today?”

The “Antiques Roadshow” can lay claim to more than being the top-rated series on PBS. Now in its 18th season, “Antiques Roadshow” has helped nurture America’s love of all things collectible. And it has spawned an entire genre of reality programming. “Pawn Stars,” “Storage Wars,” “American Pickers” and scads of spinoffs and knockoffs all owe a debt to the Roadshow.

Beyond that, as longtime executive producer Marsha Bemko puts it, “We produce an event as well as a show.”

Each summer, the Roadshow visits a handful of towns across the country, where locals bring household treasures, from earrings to armoires, to be evaluated and appraised by the show’s stable of experts. A few are chosen to have their appraisals done on camera, which forms the basis for the following year’s television series.

Tonight brings the first of three consecutive episodes filmed June 22 in Anaheim. More than 24,000 applied for a pair of tickets; just 3,000 were doled out by a lottery.

The folks at PBS invited me to participate in the Roadshow process. My household being relatively barren of historic artifacts, the choice was easy: two pieces of the original art of editorial cartoons from the defunct Los Angeles Herald Examiner that celebrated the Los Angeles Lakers’ NBA championships of 1987 and 1988.

As a Lakers diehard, I treasure them. My wife, a Celtics fan, has relegated them to an obscure wall in the office. Perhaps if she understood their true worth, they could merit a more appropriate spot, like the living room, or the Louvre.

Assured that I had no firearms – they must be inspected by security – the The volunteer at the door directed me to the “triage table.” Ramona, a Roadshow staffer, helped me decide which of about two dozen categories of appraisers I would visit. She handed me a ticket for the sports memorabilia line and sent me off in search of confirmation of my fortune.

The production of a Roadshow event is complicated but fast-moving. Bemko, host Mark Wahlberg and their crew of 43 show up on Wednesday. They first shoot the “insert” segment at some local point of collectibles interest; here, it was Rickenbacker Guitars in Santa Ana.

The appraisers arrive on Friday; about 70 out of a stable of 150 will take part. Some 120 volunteers round out the staff on Saturday, the day of the event. They work in exchange for lunch and an appraisal.

For attendees, Camelot sits in the middle of a barren exhibit hall: a makeshift room, about 50-feet square, marked off by 12-foot-high scrims. It glows, illuminated from the inside by television lights. This is where items are appraised, segments filmed and, occasionally, lives changed.

A ticket from the triage table entitles treasure holders to stand in lines according to topic, waiting to be summoned inside one or two at a time. Asian art is particularly popular today. Sports memorabilia is not, and in no time at all I am inside the box, shaking hands with appraiser Mike Gutierrez of Heritage Auctions.

The first thing you notice inside the box is the heat; the lights have baked the interior to at least 10 degrees hotter than outside. Gutierrez looks cool even in a shirt and tie. Perhaps because he is from Phoenix. I’m in shirtsleeves and wilting.

Antiques Roadshow guest Priscila, right, smiles after learning that her 1773 copy of the “Journey of a Voyage to the South Seas” is worth between $6,000 and $9,000 on camera at the “Antiques Roadshow” taping in Anaheim last year. HANNAH POTES, STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
Antique owners speak with appraisers while those with particularly special items are interviewed on camera at the “Antiques Roadshow” taping in Anaheim last year. HANNAH POTES , STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
In a file photo, Marianne, left, laughs with musical instrument appraiser Claire Givens after discovering her mother's uncle's violin, made in 1741 in Vienna, is worth $5,000, at the “Antiques Roadshow” taping in Anaheim in June. HANNAH POTES, STAFF FILE PHOTOS
Tribal Art appraiser John A. Buxton, right, speaks with “Antiques Roadshow” hopeful Marcus about a set of religious statues at the program's taping in Anaheim last year. HANNAH POTES, STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
Priscilla holds her 1773 copy of the "Journal of a Voyage to the South Seas," valued between $6,000 and $9,000, while a producer helps her into her wheelchair on the set of the “Antiques Roadshow” taping in Anaheim. HANNAH POTES , STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
Volunteers pull category cards to distribute to guests. These cards determine which appraiser each hopeful antique owner will speak to. HANNAH POTES, STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
Nancy listens intently to appraiser Jeff Schrader as he details the historical and monetary value of her father's own World War II uniform and passport at the “Antiques Roadshow” taping in Anaheim. HANNAH POTES , STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
Hundreds of people wait in line for a preliminary appraisal where their items will be divided into categories such as pottery, glass and textiles. HANNAH POTES, STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
Appraiser Jeff Schrader, left, speaks with Nancy about the value of her father's World War II uniform and passport at last year's taping. STAFF FILE PHOTOS
Nancy's father's military uniform was appraised at last year's “Antiques Roadshow” taping in Anaheim. HANNAH POTES, STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
Register reporter Michael Hewitt, left, meets with sports memorabilia appraiser Mike Gutierrez to discuss the value of framed sports cartoons at the “Antiques Roadshow” taping in Anaheim last year. HANNAH POTES , STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
“A Journal of a Voyage to the South Seas,” a book that details one of Capt. Hook's journeys to the South Pacific, was valued between $6,000 and $9,000 last year. STAFF FILE PHOTO

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